Filed under:
Tuesday’s top tech news: Hands-on with the HomePod
We have a review of Apple’s new smart speaker as Chris Welch and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy evaluate the “all-new” $299.99 HomePod.
They praised its sound quality, useful set of sensors, and deep integration with Apple TV, but noted it’s a bit more expensive than similar smart speakers, and said you’ll really need two of them to get the best experience.
The E3 video game trade show, which has traditionally served as one of the year’s major press events, could be a much smaller affair in 2023. A new report from IGN suggests that the three major console manufacturers, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, are all skipping out on the June convention. There’s a chance they could still hold press events that month that aren’t officially part of E3, but it’d be very bad news for the Entertainment Software Association’s flagship event itself.
Elsewhere, GM’s Hummer EV SUV has entered mass production, and the first customers are expected to receive their gigantic electric cars by the end of Q1. The SUV joins the truck version of the Hummer EV, whose deliveries started in late 2021.
And finally, Paramount is reconfiguring its streaming offering to combine Showtime with Paramount Plus. The resulting streaming service will be called, inventively enough, “Paramount Plus with Showtime.” It’s part of a wave of changes coming to streaming players that also include the merger of HBO Max and Discovery Plus.
For now, here’s a silly tweet to start your day:
-
The US government wants to ban gas stoves? Good luck fighting Hank Hill.
Breaking news: Deadline reports that King of The Hill will return, and there’s no way in hell the lord of propane is going to allow lawmakers to seize gas stoves from the people.
Welcome to America. We sell propane and propane accessories.
The US government wants to ban gas stoves? Good luck fighting Hank Hill.
Breaking news: Deadline reports that King of The Hill will return, and there’s no way in hell the lord of propane is going to allow lawmakers to seize gas stoves from the people.
Welcome to America. We sell propane and propane accessories.
AMD made just $21 million last quarter.
Profits dropped 98 percent — and yet it’s actually a rosy quarter since AMD is weathering reduced PC demand relatively well (client processors admittedly down 51 percent). AMD says the losses are “primarily due to the amortization of intangible assets associated with the Xilinx acquisition.”
Gaming revenue only dropped 7 percent because AMD-powered console sales (PS5, Xbox, Steam Deck) are actually up. It’s largely the same story as last quarter.
Jan 31, 2023, 8:32 PM UTCUmar Shakir
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric streamliner sedan with RWD and Long Range battery can travel 89 miles further than Tesla’s current RWD Model 3 based on EPA range estimates.
PayPal is laying off 2,000 employees.
The latest mass layoff event in tech is happening at PayPal, where CEO Dan Schulman announced:
I’m writing to share the difficult news that we will be reducing our global workforce by approximately 2,000 full time employees, which is about 7% of our total workforce.
If you’re wondering why we’ve seen so many of these and why the 7 percent figure is so familiar, Elizabeth Lopatto can try to explain.
Jan 31, 2023, 7:01 PM UTCJay Peters
A new game codenamed Tatanka will use Unreal Engine instead of the previous in-house Slipspace engine used for Halo Infinite, according to a new Bloomberg report.